Look Out New Jersey, Rulebook Just Released
Added: Dec. 2, 2013
Residents of New Jersey have been eagerly counting the days till online casinos are live and available to them. As you know, New Jersey is one of the few states in the United States that has been steadily moving towards legalization of online gambling within their borders. In fact, some pundits are busily pronouncing the state of New Jersey as a model test case for the rest of the nation. Yes, there are other states such as Nevada and Delaware that have already established online gambling operations. But, New Jersey is the first state with a large population to embrace online casinos. There are an estimated 9 million residents within the borders of New Jersey. Not surprisingly, the governor, Chris Christie is forecasting a virtual flood of tax revenues flowing to the state’s treasury.
Not surprisingly, at the very same time that New Jersey is loudly proclaiming what a giant step forward this is, the state just released a comprehensive set of rules for both the casino operator and the online casino player.
Among these rules, there are some that deserve a second look. Here is an example of one of the rules from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. An online casino is allowed to offer up a bonus and this bonus can in fact be tied to a wagering requirement. In other words, suppose you head over to one of the New Jersey online casinos. The site welcomes you with welcome arms and immediately credits your account for $100.00. According to the New Jersey rules, the online casino can restrict your ability to immediately withdraw your new bonus until you have met some base wagering requirement.
Think about it this way, look at a hypothetical example. You head over to one of those new online casinos and sign up. As part of your sign up, you deposit $100.00 into your wagering account at this casino. Then, the casino thanks you and immediately credits your account for an additional $100.00. Now the online casino has every right to tell you that you can’t just pull out your $100.00 bonus and leave town. Obviously, that sort of activity would put the casino out of business in short order. Instead, they merely put in a little bit of a restriction that says you must wager at least a minimum amount over a period of time before you can withdraw your bonus.
On the other hand, the rules are also perfectly clear, that as long as you have a positive balance in your account, you are free to withdraw the amount of your original deposit at any time.
There are more rules and restrictions of course, but the signup bonus restriction is the one that may catch some people by surprise.